Changing Fates
by WeatheredSpoon.Mysika
Summary: Rating: M, just to be safe. Disclaimer: I own nothing. :O Summary: Three years later...
1. 001: The Secret Life Of, Part One

Edited: _The_ _Secret_ _Life_ _Of_..., Part One now consists of the old _Comfort_ _Zones_ Part One and Two together.

_The Secret Life Of..., _Part Two is completely new contents.

~*~*~**~*~*~

**Changing Fates:- **Chapter One, The Secret Life Of...

~*~*~**~*~*~

Chapter One: The Secret Life Of..., [_Part One_]

~*~*~**~*~*~

The midnight breeze gently swept past the golden haired goddess as she silently sat underneath the darkened sky, holding the most recent letter from her love. Her wide eyes stared at the dormant lights hanging in the night sky; her mind derailed the train of thought she had once held, replacing it with a feeling of longing to see her love.

Her eyes closed, her hands still clutching onto the letter from him. It was all she had of him at this moment; the other item being her favourite tshirt of his, which had been gently threw over a chair.

"Usagi." A gentle purr came from the window and entered the room on four legs. "You should get to sleep."

"I can't sleep..." Usagi replied without any emotion. Her eyes still fixated on the one little star she had been staring at for the past three hours. "...I keep thinking about everything..." She was leant sloppily in the window, unenthusiastically.

"You're..." The feline jumped onto the blonde's legs, "...still worried about everyone?"

Usagi briefly looked at the cat with a 'you've got it' look, then sighed. "Yes and no." Luna gave Usagi a look to continue. "I've been having problems sleeping."

It was hard to believe that Usagi, the Queen of Sleep had difficulty sleeping, but Luna had most definitely noticed the girl's tossing and turning.

Usagi moved across the room, towards the door. She stopped three inches from it, and turned her head to face Luna who was perched in the window. "I think something is coming Luna..." She paused momentarily, worry flashing over her face. "...and it's not good."

Within a second, the space that Usagi occupied was empty. Leaving the guardian cat staring at the empty space, with three times as much worry than when she had entered.

~*~*~**~*~*~

"Come on Hotaru." A young boy, standing about five foot five yelled back at the distant black haired girl. His ragged brown hair fell down his face, leading him to constantly need to blow it out of his eyes.

She was perched on a bench outside on the school's greenery, enjoying what was left of the day. There was no breeze of any kind, her hair remained motionless, just like her body. She threw her head back and closed her eyes; ignoring the boy towering over her.

Her constant ignorance of his present ultimately ended with him giving up on her, and stalking off into the gym.

"Hotaru!" Hotaru's eyes peered open at the yell of her name, it wasn't him shouting her. It was a feminine voice that had called. In her sight came the form of a girl, a girl she'd known as Hana. A girl that had befriended her at this weird place called 'high school'.

"You're turning into a real bad ass Tomoe." The girl's grin could only have been described as mischievous. "Is it gym you don't like? Or the teacher?" Hana chuckled at Hotaru's indifferent face. Huffing, the red head waved her hands in front of violet eyes. "You still bummed about..."

"Hotaru, Hana. My favourite ladies. How are you both?" Katsurou quickly wrapped his arms around both the girls, and gently pushed them in the direction he wanted them to go.

"We're fine." Hotaru replied sincerely, Hana removed his arm from her shoulder and suspiciously asked him. "What do you want?"

"I need a favour..."

Hotaru followed Hana's lead and pushed the boy's arm away. "Katsurou, I'm not doing any favours for you again."

"Good...because it isn't you I need the favour from..." Katsurou spun round to Hotaru.

"...Uh, no. No. No. I'm not getting involved with anything." Hotaru waved her hands around to emphasise her answer.

~*~*~**~*~*~

Usagi pulled the thin red jacket over her arms, and slipped on her shoes. "Usagi." A woman stood in the doorway of the living room, "I didn't realise you were up." It was her mother. "Are you off out?" She asked curiously, when she found the attire Usagi was wearing was the outdoor variety.

"Yeah."

"I made breakfast, are you having any?"

"I'm not hungry, thanks momma." Usagi gave her mother a sincere smile, before reaching for the door handle. "Save some for me later, okay?" She added, in hopes that this would deter the worrisome woman from asking more questions.

"Okay...where are you going?" Ikuko stood in the middle of the kitchen doorway, she wasn't physically far from her daughter, but she felt so much further from her than usual.

"I'm going to meet a friend."

"Oh." Sensing that her daughter wasn't going to give her the information that she wanted, Ikuko let it go. "Have fun."

Another smile made its way on to Usagi's face, "I will." Her hand pulled down the metal handle, and pulled open the wooden door. As she got her first foot out the door, her head turned to see her mother still stood in the doorway. She had forgotten to say something important, "Love you mom!"

Before Ikuko had a chance to respond to her daughter's declaration of love, her daughter had already shut the door.

A sigh escaped the woman's throat, "Oh Usagi."

~*~*~**~*~*~

"She's still not sleeping well then?" The white coated feline asked his life partner, as they were snuggled up on Usagi's bed.

Luna exhaled loudly, snuggling into his fur, "She's not. It's getting worse. What are we going to do Artemis?"

"I don't know." He stated simply. "We could slip her some sleeping pills in her evening milk..."

"Artemis!"

Artemis jumped to his feet, to avoid a playful swipe from his partner. "I was joking Luna! I was joking!" His heart became heavier the more he thought about Usagi, he didn't know why she was losing sleep. It hurt him to know that he couldn't do anything for her; more importantly he knew that it hurt Luna more.

~*~*~**~*~*~

If anyone had told him that there was something wrong with sitting in the park on one of the wettest days of the year, he would have agreed with them. But, there was something different about this day. This day had something that the other days didn't – Hotaru.

She was a very special person to him; granted they hadn't got off to the best of starts, but as the year progressed they had slowly started to talk to each other more and a friendship blossomed from the debris.

Then the dynamics of the relationship changed when he had asked her out for some food, and since then it had been a merry go round.

He smiled back at her and moved a soggy strand of her hair out from her face, she wasn't too bothered about the strand

of hair obscuring her view instead she continued to watch the skies. "What are you thinking about?" He asked her. He moved closer to her, risking more waterlogged trousers and turned his attention to whatever had captured the girl's attention.

His brown eyes stared at the darkened grey skies, there was nothing of interest up there and whatever had caught her attention had been lost on him. "What are you looking at?"

Hotaru shook her thoughts from her head and turned to Katsurou, "Nothing." She smiled at the boy beside her, the boy who was as drenched as her and shaking as much as her.

"I think we should get going." Katsurou got up and offered his hand to the shorter girl; he smiled at the sight of her.

Hotaru took his hand and he helped her from the dampened grasses, "Yeah. I think we should." She couldn't help but laugh as he pulled her closer to him, wrapping his right arm around her waist. Hotaru brushed her hand against his cheek to wipe away the raindrops; she couldn't help but smile when she looked at him.

He smiled back at her and let go of her waist, he noticed when he let go Hotaru's breathing returned to normal. "Come on, you're gonna be late for last period."

"I don't mind."

Katsurou shook his head at the girl's response, "You'll get expelled from school..." He slipped his hand into hers.

"I really don't care." Hotaru stated flatly; slowly allowing his fingers to intertwine with hers. She felt Katsurou's squeeze but chose to ignore it by continuing walking to school.

He watched the twinge of sadness creep up on her face. Her actions spoke more than her words. "You really don't pull off the 'bad girl' very well Hotaru."

Hotaru pulled her hand from his, "I'm not trying to be a bad girl Katsurou. I just don't care." She started to move a couple of paces faster, creating some distance between them.

Katsurou was a quick mover, and managed to catch up with the black haired girl within a couple of seconds. He grabbed her arm to stop her from moving any further from him. "Look, I'm sorry I upset you."

Hotaru pulled her wrist from him and huffed as she waited for the little red man to turn green. She watched as the endless amounts of cars passed them by. She wondered if any of the occupants of the cars had ever felt like she did now. As she watched the many faces blurring past wondering if they had their world torn apart, crumpled up, shaken, thrown around several times before eventually landing upside down...because at the moment she felt like the only one feeling like that.

Her violet eyes avoided his intense glare, she brushed in between the hordes of people making their way across the road. She suddenly came to a standstill when the group seemingly stopped moving and starting spinning around fast. In the midst of all the chaos, she held out her hand to the only figure she could make out in the crowd as she plummeted to the ground.

~*~*~**~*~*~

Usagi swirled the straw around in the remains of her chocolate milkshake; barely listening to the conversation going on with between the three people she had befriended at college.

"What do you think Usagi?" Tomoko had her chin resting on the palm of her hand; staring curiously at the blonde in question. She had that daydreamer's look that they had all come around to know so well.

Usagi's head snapped around to face the group; a motion that caused her a lot of pain as her neck locked. Her hand clasped the back of her neck; the pain shot through her like static. "I don't know." She replied; she had learned after a many occasion not to reply 'yes' or 'no' to a question you didn't hear.

"Were you even listening?" Usagi's face turned from her questioning friend; an action was all it took to confirm. "Usagi, you were only two marks off—" Tomoko halted her questioning approach; Usagi wasn't listening again. Something had caught her attention outside. "What is going on with you Usagi?"

The blonde haired princess ignored her questioning again; instead replying, "I've got to go. I'll catch up with you tomorrow..." She grabbed her bag and ran out of the cafe; crossing the road to get to the park.

Ichirou's eyes followed the girl running into the park, when her figure disappeared he turned back to the group. Simply stating; "Strange."

~*~*~**~*~*~

Getting back to school had taken them an extra fifteen minutes; Katsurou had held on to Hotaru just in case (much to Hotaru's reluctance) she fell again. Surprisingly, it was still in time for their last lesson of the day.

"Are you sure you are going to be okay?" Katsurou asked; he let go Hotaru's arm allowing her to move for herself.

She smiled gratefully; "Yes. I will be okay." She patted the boy on his scrawny shoulder. "Thank you for caring."

He leant against the lockers as Hotaru raided through hers. "What lesson you got now?" From the grunted response, he knew what the lesson would be and what she intended to do. "You can't skip it; don't you remember that meeting you had? If you play hooky again, you are suspended?"

"Meh. I'll go." She turned to him and smiled despite for the lack of love for the subject. He leant into her, millimetres away from her face.

"Woah! Woah! Woah!" Hana pulled on Hotaru's arm; creating more distance between them. "What do you think you are doing?" She whispered. "Don't you know who that is?"

Katsurou rolled his eyes. "I'm right here...." He shot a glance towards her and mimed 'call me' before walking off.

"What is your problem Hana?"

"What is my problem? What is yours? You are the one skipping classes to spend time with the prince of darkness."

Hotaru's eyes rolled at Hana's exaggeration once again. "Where do you get all this from? He isn't the prince of darkness, he is nice."

Hana threw her hands up in the air in defeat, sometimes there was no reasoning with the stubborn girl. "Don't you remember what happened six months ago?"

"Yeah, I do. Look, Hana...just trust me okay? He is a nice guy – I know you don't believe it – but I do. People change Hana, you did..." Hotaru shot Hana a knowing glance.

When Hotaru had met Hana; she hadn't been the star pupil. If she remembered correctly Hana was the person who had started the fire in the gym...and the staff lounge. The experience had landed Hana in several months of therapy; she had witnessed Hana change from the pyromaniac anti-socialist outcast to the well rounded, slightly clumsy girl before her (eventhough she is still the somewhat anti-social outcast, with her pyromaniac tendencies slipping out under controlled circumstances).

Hana's blue eyes met Hotaru's purple ones; they were full of sincerity and admiration for the boy. "Okay."

"Ladies, if you don't get a move on you will be late for your classes." The large red headed woman; was a teacher they knew as Miss Izumi. She was a somewhat contrived woman who taught Literature. "Tomoe-san, any more unauthorised absences from you and you will be expelled. You are on Truancy Watch, remember?"

Hotaru looked across to Hana; trying to suppress a grin. Hotaru clenched her teeth in an amused manor; "How could I forget?"

"Call me later, okay?"

Hotaru nodded at Hana's simple request and excused herself from Miss Izumi's presence.

~*~*~**~*~*~

Usagi stopped running when she was out of breath; she was in the middle of the park and she still had not found what she had ran after.

She wiped the sweat from her forehead; she hadn't sprinted like that in a while. Sprinting wasn't her strong point and she knew it. She regained her lost breath. Her tired eyes were wandering the surroundings of the park.

There was no-one here. She swore she saw Setsuna standing at that tree; watching her, trying to tell her something.

"What are you trying to tell me?" Usagi whispered to the winds. "Please, Setsuna. I can't figure this out on my own." She pleads with the surrounding atmosphere; hoping even in another dimension the time goddess would hear her.

Her eyes were focused upon the heavens; so much that she didn't notice nor hear the person behind her.

"You like watching the sky?"

She span around so fast her balance was off and fell to the ground with a thud and a couple of grunts. "Uh! Umf!" Usagi looked up at him; his scruffily styled hair had a slight hint of red hidden in the brown locks.

He holds out his hand for the younger woman, she smiles gratefully at him. "Quite a fall..."

Usagi quickly retracts her hand from his; remembering the touch of her hands with her love...

"...are you okay?"

"Yeah. Thank you – who are you?" She rubbed the already forming bump on her arm.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Marcus Hughes. I'm a photographer from America. I'm in Japan on business. What about yourself?" He held out his hand, timidly Usagi shook his hand.

"Tsukino Usagi. I go to college, just around the corner." She turns around and points in the general direction of her college.

"I see." Marcus looks shyly at his camera. "I'm doing an article on Japanese women and school girls, would I be able to take a photo of you?"

Usagi's face blushed. "I, I, I'm not photogenic."

Marcus stifled a laugh as Usagi tried to hide her ever blushing cheeks.

~*~*~**~*~*~


	2. 001: The Secret Life Of, Part Two

Edited: _The_ _Secret_ _Life_ _Of_..., Part One now consists of the old _Comfort_ _Zones_ Part One and Two together.

_The Secret Life Of..., _Part Two is completely new contents.

~*~*~**~*~*~

**Changing Fates:- **Chapter One, The Secret Life Of...

~*~*~**~*~*~

Chapter One: The Secret Life Of..., [_Part Two_]

~*~*~**~*~*~

The blonde haired Moon Princess brushed the strands of her fringe out of her eyes, instead of resting comfortably behind her ears the strands would instantly fall back into place – down the front of her face.

Her right hand was propped up on the desk supporting her head, as she gazed out of the window longingly. Her left hand was playing with a pencil. How long had it been since she had seen him? How long had it been since the last time everyone was together? What was that ominous feeling she was getting lately? Where was Setsuna-san?

She shook her head; shaking all the thoughts of them away – it wasn't the time to be thinking about that. She turned her head around, the classroom clock directly behind her.

"Usagi-san," a tall man was stood to her side, he was staring at her with curiosity. "Would you stay behind after class? I'd like to talk to you about your recent essay."

Usagi nodded without saying anything, he continued to address the class about the given topic.

~*~

Hotaru used both of her hands to pin back her hair, it had grown enough (with her rapid ageing process) to be tied back. It fell just past her shoulders. Satisfied at the loose ponytail she had created, she turned back to the rest of the girls getting changed. She hated PE, more than any other subject. She pulled the piece of card out of her backpack pocket, it was pale blue and it had 'Mandatory Attendance Report' typed across the top in bold. Next to word 'Name' it had 'Tomoe Hotaru' scrawled in blue ink, beside the word 'Class' it had '1st Year: 3'.

After the teacher was satisfied that all the girls were changed, she ushered them outside. Hotaru lingered behind until most girls had gone.

"Tomoe-san, you have something for me?" Her teacher's hoarse voice carried across the changing room, the three girls left in the room looked up.

Hotaru nodded and held out the blue piece of card towards the woman. Miss Sato took it without saying anything, she read the contents then looked at Hotaru disapprovingly. "One hundred and ten percent today Tomoe-san, otherwise I won't sign this. Understand?"

Hotaru merely nodded expressionlessly. Miss Sato folded the card in half and swatted Hotaru's forehead with it. "I expect better from you."

~*~

"You see, I think I understand the point you are getting across; you just need to develop your answers more." He smiled at the girl when he finished speaking, he used his index finger to prop up his glasses. He passes Usagi the paper back, "You can try it again, have it ready for the end of the week..."

"Thank you Sir."

"No problem Tsukino-san. Try your hardest, and develop your points." He smiles again, earning a smile back from the blonde.

"I will." Usagi hugged the folder, she walked out the room with a small smile and a distant look on her face.

~*~

To say that she didn't like PE that much, Hotaru didn't mind hockey. She huffed as she stood in the centre of the pitch with her almighty hockey stick, she was facing off with a girl called Chiyo something. Hotaru swung the stick, stealing the ball from Chiyo (from the look in her eye as Hotaru stole the ball, she wasn't too pleased). Hotaru sprinted a quarter of the way down the pitch before hitting the ball across to a teammate. The brown haired Chiyo had caught up to Hotaru and swung the stick for Hotaru's shins.

Hotaru intercepted the blow by slamming the head of the hockey stick into the soil in front of her, the stick taking the force of the blow. Hotaru casually turned to the girl and shrugged as if she didn't know what the girl had tried to do.

"Okay ladies! That's enough for today."

Miss Sato walked beside Hotaru, "You did well."

Hotaru smiled, "Was it worth 110%?"

"Yes."

"Thank you."

Miss Sato continued to walk beside the black haired girl, "Be careful Tomoe-san."

Hotaru looked up from the floor to the teacher, "Huh?" What had her teacher just said?

"How is Ten'oh-san doing these days?"

"Oh, she is okay."

"She still running?"

"Not so much, I think she is more focused on her racing at the moment." Hotaru stopped when they hit the concrete. She undid the laces to the studded boots.

"Where is she now?"

"Valencia." Hotaru picked up the boots and walked with Sato along the path to the PE building.

"Give her my best when you talk to her."

Hotaru chuckled ,"I will do."

Miss Sato used the gym wall for a hard surface and signed the piece of card, she then patted Hotaru's back. "Go get changed."

~*~

It had brightened up considerably since the shower earlier that day, Usagi leant back on the park bench – the soggy park bench – and gazed at the clear skies.

"Every time I see you, you have been looking at the sky. Is there something up there?"

Usagi turned her attention to the space in front of the park bench, it was the brown haired guy she had met earlier in the day. He had a camera around his neck, and a clipboard in his left hand. Usagi blinked and replied, "What?"

Marcus deadpanned; was it even possible that this girl was completely immune to his charms? "What are you up to later?" He asked in a sultry voice.

Usagi blurted, "I'm already seeing someone!"

Marcus laughed, trying to mask the disappointment in face. "I was wondering if you would be available to help me with my article..."

"Oh," Usagi's right hand rested on her head, "Oh, sorry." She smiled and then shook her head, "Sorry, I'm busy later on."

"Okay, what are you doing now?" Usagi looks at the guy dubious of his intentions, "I'm really stuck with my article; I haven't got a single picture. Please?"

Marcus flashed his pretty boy smile, and hoped it was enough to lure the woman. His voice lowered to a seductive tone, "I won't use up too much of your time."

"Okay."

~*~

Hotaru opened the small apartment door, she gently pushed the door shut – it automatically locking itself. She threw the keys on the counter; the boy's arms wrapped around her waist from behind.

It was nearly seven months since she had moved into Makoto's old apartment. The apartment had kept most of its characteristics from Makoto, but it had several added 'Hotaru elements' about it now.

Katsurou nibbled on Hotaru's neck, Hotaru spun around. Katsurou pressed his lips against Hotaru's and began gently gnawing at her bottom lip with his teeth. He bit down too hard on her lip; it slowly starting to bleed. Instead of stopping to tend to the wound; they continued kissing.

They stopped for air; their foreheads resting against one another's. He smiled, "How was your day?"

"It was okay. Yours?"

"Er it wasn't too bad. Better now I am with you though," Katsurou grinned. Hotaru placed her right hand on his cheek. He started kissing her again, pulling off her blue bow and throwing it somewhere in the room. He unbuttoned her blouse slowly, savouring every sweet moment. Not breaking lip contact with the girl, he slipped the blouse off her body and let it fall to the floor.

He took in the sight of Hotaru's breast, and moved his kisses from her lips to her neck, sucking and biting at her neck.

Hotaru closed her eyes, his kisses moved from her neck to the between of her breasts. Katsurou unhooked her bra, lowering oh-so-slightly to expose a tiny bit more of her breast to kiss.

A loud purring caused the two teens to look down; a white cat was circling around Hotaru's right leg. Hotaru's eyes widened, "A-A-rtemis." Artemis replied with a meow, and continued circling around Hotaru's leg. Hotaru sighed disappointedly and hooked up her bra again; the mood was instantly lost.

"I'm going to get changed for work," Hotaru turned away from Katsurou and walked to the main bedroom. Katsurou turned to Artemis who had hopped on to the kitchen surface, a smirk on the human's face.

"Would you like a hand?" Katsurou asked slyly. Artemis hissed at the boy in response to the question.

"No," Hotaru re-emerged with her work clothes on, "I'm done."

Katsurou nonchalantly shrugged, "I'll be leaving now anyway. You've got work soon." He pulls her closer to him by her arm, his left hand holds the back of her head as he starts kissing her. He tugs on her lip, making the recent cut start to bleed again. He wraps his arms around her waist, and rests his chin on her shoulder.

They softly sway as they hug, Katsurou grins at Artemis. He mouths, 'You can't protect her forever.' Before he places a kiss on Hotaru's right cheek, "I'll see you tomorrow – at school."

Katsurou let himself out of the apartment. Hotaru turns to Artemis, a confused look on her face.

~*~

"At least let me take you out for dinner," Marcus smiles at the girl. She has changed back into the black trousers and white blouse she was wearing earlier. He courteously bowed, "to thank you for saving my project. I've heard of a little place not too far from here..."

~*~

Three minutes of walking, they had arrived at Fruit Parlour. He opened the door for her, Usagi walked over to the same spot that she used to sit in when she was with her friends. Marcus plopped himself opposite her. "What do you want?"

Usagi glances over the menu, "Just an orange juice."

"Don't you want anything else?" He smiles, "I hear the chocolate muffins are good."

Usagi smiles, "Okay. I'll have one of those too."

"That's more like it, after all – you helped me so much." Marcus smiles, flashing his teeth.

Usagi shakes her head and waves her hand in the air, a black haired girl about 5' 3'' walks towards them. Her head was bowed, she was jotting something in her notebook.

"Are you ready to order?"

"Hotaru-chan!" Usagi exclaims as she recognises the girl, "What are you doing here?"

Hotaru shakes the apron with a smile, "I work here."

Usagi's eyes brightened at the sight of the girl, a smile on her face. Marcus grinned to himself, "We'll have two orange juices and two muffins."

Hotaru scribbled it down on the notepad, she looked up once more at the stranger sat opposite her future queen. She hadn't seen him around here before, "Coming up." She stated before turning away from the couple.

Marcus placed the menu on the table, "You know her?"

"Yes. She's an important friend."

Marcus covers his smile by rubbing his nose. "How important is she to you?"

Usagi didn't take any notice of the darkened tone or the sinister look in Marcus' eyes when she replied, "Very."

"I see," Marcus licked his lips. He stared in wonder at the black haired girl as she made her way back with the tray. He mumbled incoherently, "Oh my, what a tangled web indeed."

Usagi tilted her head to the side, "Did you say something?"

"No, nothing at all."

"Here you go," Hotaru places a glass of orange and a muffin in front of Marcus and Usagi. "Enjoy," Hotaru gives Usagi a faint wave. She walks over to the next table.

"Let's enjoy, like the girl says."

~*~

There was only one candle light up the large dining hall, the candle's light only reached two centimetres. There was a stench of damp in the air, along with an aroma of burning.

Katsurou huffs, he runs his hand through his shaggy hair. "My hair is wrong."

Marcus laughs, "Baigh, why do you even care about your hair?"

"It is part of who I am Ilgrim," Katsurou turns around with his hands on hips; his dishevelled hair falling over his eyes.

"I have some interesting news," Marcus rests his elbow on the table, "regarding our targets."

"Really?"

"Our suspicions were corrected, they do know each other." Marcus grinned.

"How did you verify that?"

"I took her to your girlfriend's work place."

"Always taking the simplest route."

"Why take the longer route if the destination is going to be the same?"

Katsurou rubbed his neck, he was feeling the warmth. "Is it warm in here?"

"No," Marcus replied, "What is wrong with you?"

"I don't know, every time I touch her I want to—" Katsurou balls his fist, "—I just want to—"

Marcus laughed at his comrade's frustration. "Just do it already; as long as the goal is met, it doesn't matter how you get there."

"I try – but that damn Mau keeps interrupting." Katsurou's fist hits the table, the candle jumps on impact but it gradually settles again.

"Her cat?"

"Yes, he's always around her." Katsurou slips on to the chair opposite, "I think he is on to me."

"I'm not surprised, especially when you keep taunting him. Just get rid of him like how Jyres disposed of that time witch..."

"Dump him in another galaxy? Wouldn't it be easier to kill it?"

"No, if one of them dies – they'd feel it."

"I get it; if they don't feel anything it means that nothing is wrong?"

"Exactly."

"I can't do that to her cat, she'd know something was wrong when it didn't turn up." Katsurou rests his chin on the back of his palm.

"Work around it then," Marcus rolls his eyes and states obviously, "Go somewhere else."

Katsurou smile couldn't get any bigger if it tried, he had an idea. He snaps his finger, changing the subject. "How did it go? Did you get the picture?"

Finally it was Marcus' time to smile; he held up his left hand, a picture appearing in between his index and middle fingers.

"Can I see?" Katsurou held out his hand, Marcus passed him the picture. "Beautifully vulnerable, just the way we like them." It was a picture of a blonde haired bun head, she had a soft smile on her lips and her eyes were distant – most definitely thinking of something else.

Marcus took the picture and placed it in front of him. He stared at the boy for three seconds, "What about yours? You thought about trying again?"

"I have thought about it," Katsurou admits. "I even have a couple of pictures, but I had a picture last time... and that didn't work..." Katsurou held his hand up, a picture of him and Hotaru appeared in his hand. Hotaru was pulling a wide, toothy grin. "...this one is mysterious."

~*~


	3. 001: The Secret Life Of, Part Three

Edited: _The_ _Secret_ _Life_ _Of_..., Part One now consists of the old _Comfort_ _Zones_ Part One and Two together.

_The Secret Life Of..., _Part Two is completely new contents.

~*~*~**~*~*~

**Changing Fates:- **Chapter One: The Secret Life Of...

~*~*~**~*~*~

Chapter One: The Secret Life Of..., [_Part Three_]

~*~*~**~*~*~

Hotaru finished wiping down the last table at Fruit Parlour, Unazuki wrapped her arm around the girl's shoulder. "I've finished cashing up, I'm ready when you are."

Hotaru slips the cleaning spray into her apron, and turns to Unazuki. "I'm done too."

Unazuki removes her arm from Hotaru, "Good! I'll give you a lift home – it's late."

"Are you sure? You live in the opposite direction..."

"It's fine Hotaru-chan so get your things..." Unazuki walks off into the back, hanging up her apron. Hotaru follows Unazuki and hangs hers up.

"I'm ready," Hotaru pulls out a small black bag out of her locker. There were only six lockers, three along the bottom and three on top.

In all honesty, there wasn't any need for many more lockers because there were only nine people who worked here. Three were members of the Furuhata family; Motoki, Unazuki and their father Hayato. Sayuri, the widowed sixty-seven year old, who would often dish out advice along with an order. Shiori, the single mother of a three year old boy, she was also studying part time at university. Hina, the 16 year old girl who had recently transferred to Shiba Koen; she likes anything sparkly and light purple. Takuma, the single twenty year old male with way too much free time on his hands, he also spends much of their shifts teasing Hotaru. Susumu, the loner type, he doesn't talk much let alone talk about himself.

"Good," Unazuki slips on her leather coat, "I just want to go home and have a nice lo~~ng bath before bed." Hotaru smirked at the girl's comment; Unazuki's face deadpanned, "I'm starting to sound like my mother..."

~*~

A gentle tapping against the wooden door, brought the moon child out her perplexed stupor. "Usagi, mom says it is getting late and that you should go to bed."

Her blue eyes set upon her taller younger brother, his growth spurt had begun two years ago and it seemed as if the boy wasn't going to stop growing at all. With his growth spurt came an understanding between the siblings; Shingo had stopped teasing Usagi about her being a klutz and an airhead when she surprised him at getting accepted into college on the first try, and Usagi stopped teasing Shingo about every girl he ever talked to since his figure had become more athletically built. They had gained a respect for each other unknowingly.

"Okay Shingo," Usagi flashed him a large smile and shut her notebook up. "I'm off to bed." She got up off the chair and ruffled up the taller boy's hair. "You should get to bed too, isn't your hockey tournament tomorrow?"

"Yeah, it is." Shingo shook his head to rid him of Usagi's meddling hands.

"I saw Hotaru-chan today," Usagi gazed at her brother trying to read his emotion at the mentioning of her name.

"Oh," Shingo's face blanked and he stated, "Good for you."

"Have you spoken to her since?"

Shingo merely replied with a shake of the head, Usagi's smile faded. "Mom keeps asking about her, you should tell her."

"I will eventually," Shingo sighed, he was leant against Usagi's wooden door. "It's just that Mom really liked her..."

"Yeah, but you should probably tell her that you aren't together anymore otherwise she'll keep asking you about it." Usagi smiled knowingly.

"And what do I say when she asks me why we broke up?"

"If you don't want her to know the truth just make something up, isn't that why you haven't told me why you broke up? Because you don't want me to know."

"You're her friend," Shingo smiles maturely at his older sister, "I don't want to put you in the middle of it."

"You're too sweet Shingo," she ruffles up his hair again; he sighs and swats her hands away.

Shingo opens the door, and stops in the doorway. He turns to Usagi, "I know you want to help; but it was our relationship..."

"I get it Shingo, you don't want me to ask Hotaru-chan about it either."

"Thank you Usagi." Shingo smiles and gives her a little wave goodnight, then shutting her bedroom door.

~*~

She swore as her body shook, she opened her dazed eyes to see a blurred figure using their foot to shake the bed. "What?"

The brown haired boy laughed as blonde rolled over to the other side of the bed, "You're going to be late for college." In his left hand was a hockey stick, he used it to poke the girl's back. "Come on."

She eventually caved and rolled herself out of bed, "I'm getting up." She stated as she landed in a heap in the floor.

"Good," Shingo laughed, he turned away and left the room, leaving his sister on a slumped groggy mess on the floor.

~*~

The sunlight hit her face, and she cautiously opened her eyes. Artemis had moved the curtain to allow the sunlight in, ultimately with the intention of waking her up. "Morning," came the half sleepy voice from the bed.

"Morning Hotaru," Artemis let the curtain fall back, blocking the sunlight's path once again.

"Did my alarm clock break again?" Hotaru asked sitting up, she rubbed her eyes to try and rid the rest of the sleep from her eyes.

"No, you just ignored it again." Artemis stated, he jumped down from the window ledge and hopped onto the bed. A small blush appeared on her cheeks. Artemis laughed, "You're getting just like Minako."

~*~

It had only taken her half an hour to get to school this morning, Artemis had followed her half the way and then detoured to Usagi's house to meet Luna. Hotaru sat on one of the benches near the main school building, that were looking into the courtyard.

A black haired girl walked up to her, "Hotaru! What happened to my call last night?" Hotaru grimaced, she knew she forgot to do something.

"Have you changed your hair colour again?" Hotaru asked, hoping to deter the girl's questioning.

"Yes, and that comment isn't going to make me forget that you didn't call me..."

"Sorry Hana, I forgot."

"You're forgiven," Hana linked her arm around Hotaru's and pulled Hotaru off the bench, "I got a call from Kiku, she'll be back in a month."

"What? Really?"

Hana smiles, "Yup! I think she's ready to come home and I think she has a few stories to tell as well." Hana's eyes filled with that mischievous gleam.

Hotaru tilted her head to Hana, "I'm glad she's coming back soon, I miss her."

"Yeah then you can tell her how you are seeing her cheating ex." Hana states all in one breath, her eyes note the shift in Hotaru's calm face; she has obviously hit a nerve. Hotaru's arm lets go of Hana's. Hana immediately turns to Hotaru, "I'm sorry Hotaru, he hurt Kiku. I don't want to see you hurt by him too."

"I'm a big girl Hana, I can take care of myself."

"If you say so." Hana stops and states monotonously, "If you seriously like him, tell me and I won't mention it again...but don't expect me to be nice to him or talk to him."

"I do like him," Hotaru links arms with the girl again, "and I don't expect you to be nice to him or talk to him." As they walk Hotaru rests her head on Hana's shoulder, "Your stubbornness is one of the aspects I like about you."

~*~

For early in the morning, it wasn't that cold as the previous morning. Instead of shivering, they had managed to sit on the grasses for several minutes without being uncomfortably cold. Usagi threw the last cheese puff in her mouth and watched as Tomoko, the red haired girl, flipped through the pages of her text book. Her back was leant against the tree trunk, and her body was covered by the tree's shadow.

"Are you looking for something?" Usagi asked curiously, the girl had the studious look on her face, the same expression she had seen on Ami during the years she had known her.

"Yes," Tomoko pulled off her glasses and passed Usagi the open tattered text book, "this should help you with that essay."

Usagi tilted her head, "How did you know about that?"

"I was waiting for you after class, but you walked off without me."

Usagi blushed, "Sorry, I didn't realise."

"It's okay, you looked the happiest I've seen you in a while." Tomoko pulled out a red writing pad and threw it on top of the open text book, "That's all my notes so far. They should help you too."

"Thanks Tomoko-chan." Usagi's smile was infectious as Tomoko couldn't help but smile back at the blonde. She closed the text book with the writing pad still in it to keep the page that Tomoko had given her. "Thank you." She repeated hugging the text book, "I will give it my best!"

Tomoko grinned and gave Usagi a goofy thumb up. Usagi couldn't quite keep her composure as the action was completely out of character for the girl; and laughed until there were tears in her eyes.

~*~

Hotaru and Hana were laughing as they got changed in their homeroom for the 'Annual Inter-form Hockey Tournament.' Each form had a girl's and a boy's teams competing, all members of the homeroom were expected to participate (but there were a few students who refused to participate and say they had forgotten their kits), which left Hotaru in the predicament she was in now: playing for the team.

"I can't believe we're on the team," Hotaru states. "How did that happen?" She asks shocked.

"We didn't forget our kits, ergo this is our punishment for being good."

"Actually, it is your punishment for truancy." Their homeroom teacher Mr Mori was stood in front of them, he had a smile on his face as he addressed Hotaru. "Do you have your card?"

Hotaru nods and pulls out the card from her rucksack, he quickly looks over it. He says, "Good girl Tomoe-san."

Hana rested her hand on her hip and says, "If it her punishment for truanting; why do I have to play?"

"Guilty by association," he laughed as Hana's face turned in to a scowl.

"That's not fair." Hana sulked, crossing her arms.

"Maybe not, but at least you are keeping your friend company on the pitch."

"Meh."

"Do your best Tomoe-san, Mitsuko-san." He smiled sincerely at them before turning his attention to the two students trying to skip out of the class early. "Yamada-san, where do you think you are going?"

"Well I was just –" the boy stuttered.

Hotaru smile widened, her eyes beamed, "I think this is going to be a good day."

~*~

Hotaru fell to the ground, her hockey stick fell shortly after. It had been an exhausting morning full of running and matches. She felt comfortable laying underneath the bright blue sky, there were only a few clouds in her view...until a shaggy brown haired boy blocked her view of the sky. She raised her right brow.

Katsurou held out his hand for her, unconsciously her eyes wandered the perimeter to find Hana, when she was sure she wasn't in sight she took his hand.

"You played some good games Hotaru."

Hotaru looked the boy up and down; he was still in his uniform. "Judging by you, you didn't play at all."

He ran his hand through his hair nonchalantly , "Nope. I forgot my kit, besides," His right hand held the back of her head to stop her moving away, he started vigorously kissing her, pulling on her lip and letting it go again. In between kisses he added, "It is so much better to watch you."

Hotaru dropped her hockey stick on the grass again, her arms wrapping around his neck. He used his left arm to pull the girl closer to him. "Even though my team lost?"

"Even though your team lost."

They continued kissing until one of the umpires walked towards them, shooing them off the pitch to get ready for the next match.

~*~

She purposely lingered behind the rest of the class, hoping to catch him on his way out while he was alone. Usagi smiled as all of the other students had left the room, picked up her bag and walked to his desk. "Sensei, can I talk to you?" Usagi had timidly approached his desk, and even more timidly spoke to him.

He glanced up from his desk to see the blonde haired girl stood in front of him, "Usagi-san, what do you want to talk to you about?"

"The essay that you asked me to redo, are the points I make appropriate?"

"Usagi-chan, all the points you made were spot on. It was just that your answers lacked the necessary depth." He pulls out a pad from his top draw and hands it to her, "I wrote some notes down for you. If you keep them, they should keep you going throughout the rest of the year. After a while your writing skills should start developing by themselves anyway." He stares straight into her eyes. "You need to believe in your skills more, Usagi-san."

"Why are you doing all this for me?"

"Because I really want you to make it to the second year," he flashed a smile at the youngster.

"Thank you sensei."

~*~

Luna stared in wonder at the sight that was Usagi ferociously scribbling in the notepad, as soon as the future queen had stepped into the house she had barely exchanged with her mother, instead barricading herself in her room. Instead of going about her usual ritualistic of dropping herself on the bed and picking up the latest issue of manga, she had sat herself at her desk and flipped through pages of the her various text books and note pads.

It was certainly a sight that put the feline on edge, she hadn't moved from the chair in three hours. "Usagi-chan," Luna had perched herself on the edge of the desk, away from all the papers, "Why don't you take a break?" Luna's voice was a soft, caring, gentle tone.

"I'm nearly done Luna," Usagi looks up from the notepad for the first time in three hours and flashes Luna a smile, "I just wanted to write this down while it was in my head."

It wasn't strange for Usagi to take her academics seriously ever since she had graduated high school (albeit it wasn't close to being on the same level of seriousness as Ami), but for the girl to sit down at her desk before sitting down and reading her manga was a definite first.

Usagi's demeanour wasn't the usual face of frustration that came when the girl had left her homework until the night before, no. Her face was a poised and confident. Luna smiled to herself; sometimes she would worry about the future– but times like these would affirm what she already knew – Usagi would be a great queen when that day arrived.

Usagi rested the pen on top of the stack of papers, "I'm hungry." She scoops Luna in to her arms and continues, "How about we get something to eat? I haven't eaten since dinner!"

Luna meowed in response, and rubbed her head against Usagi's blouse.

~*~


End file.
